Mobile BI, data visualization tools eyed for wider use

2011 business intelligence (BI) challenges survey

Mobile BI, data visualization tools eyed for wider use

More companies are eyeing mobile BI software and data visualization tools to beef up their business intelligence programs, according to a recent survey on BI challenges and priorities.

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Mobile BI, data visualization tools eyed for wider use

More companies are turning to mobile BI software and data visualization tools to beef up their BI programs, according to the survey. Already, more than half of the 201 respondents with existing BI installations -- 58% -- said their organizations were using dashboards and scorecards, while another one-third said they would be implementing such technologies within the next year. Other data visualization and data discovery tools -- such as statistical graphing and mapping software -- could see their usage more than double among the survey respondents. And mobile BI, which only last year had

users and consultants doubting its potential, was expected to catch fire: Thirty-nine percent of the respondents said their companies planned to add mobile business intelligence capabilities, a fourfold increase over the current adoption level.

Those results might not be surprising to some people. With easy-to-use devices like the iPhone and iPad becoming more and more common among consumers, it’s natural to expect employees to want to bring that technology into their work life, too. And from the corporate perspective, the iPad and other tablet computers are appealing because of their “zero-training interface,” says consultant Howard Dresner. Until now, he notes, the problem with mobile BI was that “there were never any feasible products out there.” Some of the early adopters of mobile BI have been retailers and logistics operations, including health care supply company Novation LLC. Ease of use is also one of the key factors driving more pervasive adoption of data visualization tools and other forms of data discovery software, according to Gartner Inc.’s most recent Magic Quadrant report on BI platforms.

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